Chapter 11
DIEGO
“I can’t believe this is happening,” I muttered for at least the thirteenth time, even if I absolutely could.
I was watching Brooks’s body cam through the monitor as he broke into the home to complete the job he had been hired for.
Maverick sat in the chair next to me, staring at the screen intently while being careful to keep some distance for my sake.
It was appreciated, if not necessary. I might not have been able to tolerate his touch, but I trusted him and had no problem with him being close to me.
Mav was family. My brain had finally accepted that.
Skye sat on the desk behind me that Brooks usually used.
It was technically supposed to be for work, but like back at the old house, he never used it for that.
It was essentially an oversized chair at this point.
Skye had his phone in his hand with the app up that controlled the plug my brother was currently wearing. While breaking into someone’s home. Because this was something we were doing now. I questioned all of their sanity.
Mav had needed some convincing when they’d asked him.
He’d only agreed if he could be here to monitor things.
Brooks had dynamic play while on a job as a limit, so it was understandable that Mav had been concerned.
But Brooks had explained it was more a matter of Luca or Mav trying to be Dommy with him when he had to trust his own instincts.
He’d greenlit this whole thing with a promise that he would tell them immediately if it became too much.
So that was how my office had ended up overly crowded as I guided Brooks through his task.
Skye must’ve increased the intensity of the vibrations because Brooks stopped suddenly, right in the entranceway of the home, groaning. “Oh god. Skyeeee.”
He whined. His body was shaking enough that the camera was unsteady, and it was making me dizzy as the red front door blurred from his movements.
“Focus, B. The guy shouldn’t be home for a couple of hours, but it’s best not to linger.
” I had disabled his pathetic excuse for a security system, and we were monitoring the outside just in case, but still.
It was the easiest jobs that always had me on edge, because when you least expected something to go wrong was when it would.
Skye must’ve lowered the vibrations because Brooks breathed out a sigh of relief. “I’m going. I’m going.”
Skye continued to torment him as he made his way through the house and to the bedroom where the safe was supposed to be, but I didn’t think he ever turned it up as high as that first time.
“Wait till I can blow you next, Skye,” Brooks grumbled, climbing the stairs slightly awkwardly. “I’m gonna edge the fuck outta of you.”
“Sounds like a good time, sunshine.”
“TMI,” I complained, even if it really wasn’t.
“It’s okay, D. I’ll let you watch,” Brooks added as he slid into the bedroom door.
“I never said I wanted to.” I kinda did.
Brooks made a knowing sound in the back of his throat but didn’t get to tease me further. “I found the safe.” He faltered. “Ahhh, fuck youuuu, Skye.”
“What?” Skye asked innocently.
Brooks cursed him again and fell to his knees on the carpet. After a moment, Skye relented, and Brooks sucked in a deep breath before focusing on the matter at hand.
“Please let the code be different. Please let it be different,” he muttered to himself as he punched in the one that had been provided for us, the estranged couple’s anniversary. It opened easily.
“Oh my god,” Brooks whined, annoyed.
“Take the easy paycheck, baby,” Maverick told him, amused. “We don’t get them that often.”
“True,” I added. “And can we not jinx ourselves? Please and thank you. Get the shit and get out.”
“Yeah, yeah. Of course it’s all right here too. If anyone bothered to investigate her claim, they would’ve found these immediately. I almost feel bad. Maybe I should give her a discount,” Brooks complained.
I shook my head. It wasn’t our fault the court system couldn’t give two fucks.
The rest of the job went as expected. Brooks got the heirlooms, placing them in his bag.
Skye continued to tease him mercilessly as he left the house and climbed on his bike, only stopping then so Brooks didn’t end up in an accident.
Drop-off went as smoothly as everything else, and within minutes of handing the goods over, the other half of payment was deposited into our account. Like Brooks had said, easy peasy.
It was why I should have expected that everything would go to shit. I couldn’t even remember the last time we’d had an assignment go that well. Hell, had it ever happened?
Brooks was nearly home when Maverick’s phone rang.
“It’s Luc,” Mav told us after dragging his cell out of his pocket.
There was a warning in my gut before Mav even answered the call.
Something was wrong. Immediately, I clicked my screens off the job Brooks had just completed and onto the cameras set up at the bungalow.
I’d also had them set up a security system where Ramirez was staying.
How he’d managed not to be found by any of the numerous people that were after them was beyond me.
The guy hadn’t even installed a Ring doorbell. Fucking nothing.
I frowned as I clicked through the feeds. I had alerts set up if anything was breached and they remained silent. It could’ve easily been Luca checking to see how Brooks’s thing had gone, but the dread overwhelming me told me that wasn’t the case.
“Hey, Luca, what’s up?” Maverick asked.
“Ramirez is fucking dead.”
The air was sucked out of the room as Luca’s words hit us.
I rapidly clicked through the cameras on the properties. Wes and Luca’s bungalow sat silent and dark. Their car had been moved from the driveway, so it looked empty. Untouched.
A quick check through Ramirez’s place showed the same. The guy had refused to allow cameras in the bedrooms, but there was no sign of a struggle or distress. It looked completely empty.
Maverick stood up, ready for action even though we were hours away. He squinted at the security footage.
“Where are you?”
“Not there anymore. Ramirez said he was going to step out in the yard, get some air. We fucking checked it before he did and it was clear. When he didn’t come back, we searched and found him with his throat slit, left to die in the goddamn gardenias. Right under our fucking noses.”
My fingers shook as I willed them to do their fucking job and type. How? How was it possible someone had been able to get through all our defenses? Through my defenses.
“And whoever took him out?”
“Gone. A fucking ghost. It was too late for Ramirez, and Everett is our priority, so we had to get him to safety.”
Ramirez was dead. An innocent man risking his whole life for someone he didn’t even know was dead. Because my security system hadn’t fucking worked. My fault.
“Diego.” Maverick’s sharp tone barely registered. I’d been too cocky, so confident in my ability to keep them safe, and I’d failed. How had the fucker gotten past my system?
“Wes, he’s spiraling.” Maverick sounded a little panicked, but I didn’t know why.
“Angel.” Wes’s voice cut through the static. “Diego, do you hear me, baby? It’s Wes.”
Wes. Strong. Steady. Always there. “W-Wes?”
“Yeah, angel. You’re okay. I’m sorry I’m not there, but I’m safe. We’re okay. And Brooks is almost home. Can you hang on a little longer?”
“M-my fault. I killed him.”
There was a growl from someone, but I didn’t know who.
My chest constricted, vision blurring. “No, you didn’t, Diego.
” Wes’s voice was firm. There was no room for arguing or disagreement.
It was law. “This isn’t on you. We were right there and we missed it.
You did everything you could to protect us, like you always do.
The person who did this was a professional and the only one responsible. You hear me?”
I’d never heard Wes like this before. He wasn’t angry or yelling. Steady still. Always so fucking steady. But the softness was gone, like he wanted to make sure I heard every word. That I believed him.
I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. Fuck, what was wrong with me? My eyes burned, but yeah, that wasn’t fucking happening, not ever.
“Diego. I need to hear your voice.”
The weight on my chest cracked, breath filling my lungs so rapidly it made me dizzy. “Daddy?” The word came out unbidden. I’d normally never say it in this kind of situation, but fuck, I didn’t care right now.
Wes made a sound I couldn’t really make out. “Right here, Diego. I’m right here. We’re on our way back to you.”
He said it with such finality that I didn’t question it even though I knew it wouldn’t be that simple.
Another alert almost had me panicking again, but it was only notifying me Brooks was home. Good. I needed him here. I needed everyone where I could be sure they were safe with my own eyes, even when my systems didn’t work.
“How—” I finally managed to choke out. “I didn’t get notified.”
“It looks like he managed to disable the cameras in the backyard. We didn’t see it either, Diego,” Luca insisted firmly. “This isn’t on you.” Another reminder. One I had a hard time believing . . . but maybe it would be enough, at least for now.
I couldn’t let panic get the best of me, so I turned to the thing I knew best. Work.
I started to click through the footage, searching for where this massive mistake happened.
And there, Ramirez left through the patio exit, eyes on his phone, and then the footage clicked out.
It shouldn’t have been possible. I should’ve been notified immediately when someone tampered with it, but I hadn’t been. I’d fucked up and a man was dead.
A hand on my shoulder had me jolting, until I saw the familiar, tattooed arm, painted nails, and charm bracelet. Brooks. I blindly reached for him, needing the connection to my brother, to my constant through my adult life.
Brooks wiggled his way between my desk and me. Anyone else would’ve gotten a slap, but Brooks’s bright blue eyes, pinched with concern, was exactly what I needed.
“It’s okay, D. Wes and Luc are on their way back. They’re safe. We got this. Just breathe for me, alright?”
Brooks took a deep breath, in through his nose and out through his mouth, and like we’d been doing since we’d been kids, I followed his movements, copying his breath pattern until I was no longer dizzy and my sight was clear. He squeezed my thigh.
“You got this.”
I nodded. “I-I got this.”
“It’s not your fault.”
I flinched, not answering right away. Brooks raised his eyebrow, looking so much like Mav I almost laughed. Almost.
“I-it’s not my fault.” Brooks knew I was full of shit, but he let it go. I leaned forward, finally allowing myself to fall into his arms. The first person I’d ever let my walls down for. Even before my parents. Way before Wes. It had always been Brooks.
His arms tightened around me, his lips brushing lightly over my hair.
“I’m here, D. Not letting you go until you make me.”
I choked on a sound halfway between a snort and a sob. “N-not making you. Feels good.”
“Fuck, D.” He kissed my head again. It was so weird. I couldn’t remember Brooks ever doing that before, but it felt nice, so I didn’t complain.
After a beat, Brooks called out, “He’s okay, Wes.”
Wes’s sigh of relief was audible, which only made me feel fucking guilty that he had to worry about me when he was the one who had been in danger, could still be since we had no fucking clue who’d killed Ramirez and where they were.
“Thank you, sweetheart,” he told Brooks.
Skye shot me a small smile of encouragement before turning his focus to the phone Maverick was holding. “Where are you?” he asked.
Right. Before either man could answer, I gently pushed Brooks out of the way and pulled up their trackers, something I should’ve done immediately. They were moving fast, headed west, likely in a car.
“We brought Ramirez inside and left with Everett. Someone’s gonna have to go clean up. Fuck.” Luca’s tone was harsh. The whole situation was getting to him. “And we didn’t even get the asshole. I don’t see a tail, but he likely knows what we’re driving.”
“Maybe he got spooked when he saw that it wasn’t just Ramirez and Everett and bounced,” Brooks added hopefully.
Luca snorted. “Doubt it. Besides, if he was there alone, he’s probably a hired hitman, so if he doesn’t come back to get the job done, someone will.”
There was a low whimper from their end, reminding me that Everett was with them.
The poor guy had, in the last year, witnessed his aunt and uncle’s murder, the attack, betrayal, and murder of the agents that were supposed to be protecting him, and now another brutal killing. I couldn’t imagine what he was feeling.
Wes was whispering something to the kid, but I focused on Luca as he started to give out orders. “We’re going to need transportation and a route back home. Even if we’re not being followed now, I won’t take the risk.”
“On it.” I felt a little better having a task.
I was still reeling a bit, but Brooks was sitting on my desk now, out of the way of my monitors but in my line of vision.
He was fiddling with his bracelets and kicking his feet, but his gaze was steady and trained on me, reminding me he’d catch me if I started to stumble again.
“Why would they kill Ramirez but leave you guys and the kid alone? Isn’t Everett the target?” Skye asked the question I had been wondering.
“I don’t know,” Luca admitted. “My best guess is that once he saw Wes and me, he decided to back off and try to catch Everett alone. Maybe he recognized us or just didn’t want to take the chance of being outnumbered.”
It made sense. If this were professional, it was likely they were familiar with Il Fortunato, since we all worked out of the same seedy underground, even if it was for different reasons. I could see someone wanting to lie low and attempt to take them by surprise.
“If you can get safely to the airport, I can secure you a plane in an hour. You’ll be able to bypass security and meet them on the airstrip. I’m sending the location over now.”
“Thanks, D, that’ll be a lifesaver. Everett doesn’t have any documentation on him.”
“He won’t need it,” I assured them. “Handling it now. It will look like you went through security already if someone questions it.”
“Dump the car in the commuter lot,” Maverick added. “Switch the plates if you can. Might confuse them if they’re tracking you.”
“Smart. We’ll let you know when we board,” Luca confirmed before hanging up, leaving the four of us in silence with not much to do but watch the tracking dots and hope they got there safely.